Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 27Feb 14, 2022 8:22 am Kippers01 Suggest asking Metricon NSW to validate their provìsional costs in the contract with facts such as recent similar, in area, builds' actual hydraulics & basix etc. costs before you sign. Typically they tend to 'low ball' these to close you and you dont want a circa $50k nasty 'surprise' at the end. BTW Metricon has enough experience (and customer complaints) to know the likely real costs! Thanks Mate. I'll do that definitely. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 28Feb 14, 2022 10:00 am ajzmjd Kippers01 Suggest asking Metricon NSW to validate their provìsional costs in the contract with facts such as recent similar, in area, builds' actual hydraulics & basix etc. costs before you sign. Typically they tend to 'low ball' these to close you and you dont want a circa $50k nasty 'surprise' at the end. BTW Metricon has enough experience (and customer complaints) to know the likely real costs! Thanks Mate. I'll do that definitely. Especially Hydraulics. They will low ball it in the provision. Actuals are significantly higher depending on what your stormwater engineer plan states. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 29Feb 15, 2022 5:54 am ajzmjd Ashington Homes Sydman So if the quality of the Signature series is so much better, why are they using screw piers on your home in lieu of concrete piers? I absolutely guarantee you that Meadowbank don't use screw piers, in fact having seen a number of their builds they go old school and wont even use waffles. You pay extra for that, but these houses last and sell for a premium. Just because Nissan slaps an infinity badge on a car and charges extra doesn't make it a Rolls Royce. It's marketing. Sorry. Hi Simeon, Interesting discussion. I'm currently doing with Metricon -> Lumiere 70 (signature) -> Trinity Point, Morisset Park. Due to issues with improper communication and delays that were not expected, seriously thinking of backing out. Only staying along for now due to the 5% deposit that was paid to go to Studio M. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=102095 -> You can understand my plight here if interested. I was in initial discussion with a couple of Custom Builders in the area but one of them was not clear how he could do it and the other quoted me approx $3900/Sqft as he wanted to gain much as he could. I even had a custom plan approved from council before we moved to Metricon. As mentioned in a few posts, It's all about marketing for Metricon. We went with them as the there are a few in the area and they were pretty fast before Covid struck, hence thought it would be the same. Now they've got Covid to blame and not their slow process. I'm concerned my $1.5 M will go down the drain. Do you Custom Build only in Sydney & surrounds or do you do past Central Coast?? ajzmjd Firstly, I read your post and I am sorry you are having an unhappy experience. I think I know what is going on, and I would be happy to try and fill in the detail with some background for you. Having said that, I feel really sorry for the poor staff who received your unhappy feedback as it would have been out of their control. But hey, who else can you complain too . My confession is that we have been having some of the same design problems over the last few months. We use 3 external design teams and allocate work depending on the clients budget. One of our teams was absolutely incredible turning around the most amazing designs in under 2 weeks. Then since the June lockdown last year they have been incredibly slow, to the point that I have had to beg forgiveness from two wonderful clients who have every right to yell and scream at me, but thankfully their personalities and far better than mine and so far they haven't screamed at me. Going forward I wont be allocating any more work to them until they demonstrate significant improvement. Back to Metricon, I was the GM of their NSW duplex and townhouse business called Townliving by Metricon. We were doing around 200 homes per year. Left this role 5 years ago, so my comments could be outdated. It's hard to comprehend how big Metricon are until you go to Melbourne and see their operation. It is insanely huge and impressive. They basically control the Melbourne market which means that get the best trades and supply deals in Melbourne. As a result, the quality of their builds in Melbourne is also quite impressive. In Sydney by comparison at the time I was there, they were a relatively minor player. The business was all structured so that all of the central or core business operations was run out of Melbourne, such as estimating, accounting and drafting. I had three major frustrations running a NSW business with it's core services in Melbourne being: 1. Drafting - every design change had to go through Melbourne, it was so incredibly slow and we had no ability to walk across the office and sit with the drafting team in person to make sure they were working on the project and getting the details correct 2. Estimating - with the estimating being done in Melbourne they would often use Melbourne prices and then we had to find Sydney trades for Melbourne prices. One of my favourite anecdotes is that in 2014 they gave me $13 to paint an alfresco ceiling. Try finding paint for $13 let alone a painter will do two coats. 3. Attracting quality staff & trades - As I mentioned earlier, Metricon NSW was in my time not a major player and with Melbourne rates we struggled to find good supervisors and trades who would work for our prices. What I think is happening with yours, is that the NSW staff are sending your plans down to Victoria and there is a delay from the major crazy boom time we have experienced recently. If they are still doing the drafting and estimating in Melbourne the Sydney staff are probably just as frustrated as you are. That doesn't excuse the delays and maybe they should handle timing expectations better. Have to run and get to work now, but happy to chat off line and see if I can find some people you can call. Unfortunately we don't build out of Sydney as we don't have the trade base to do so. Have a great day Simeon Architectural Homes & Duplexes - specialising in custom designing homes to your budget Get a Free Onsite Consultation Today or send a PM for information, questions or advice. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 30Feb 15, 2022 7:13 am Pity the poor Metricon NSW operations staff forced to work in such a frustrating, disfunctional, under-resourced environment. No wonder staff turnover is so high. Perhaps Metricon HO in Melbourne could consider diverting some of their significant resources currently devoted to marketing, social media management, sales, accounts receivable, legal defense and football teams to actually delivering the promised reasonable quality product on time. Alternatively, Metricon NSW's salespeople could manage their prospective customers' expectations by clearly and honestly representing what product 'quality' is usually delivered and providing realistic project timing estimates, given Metricon's high volume & low cost business model. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 31Feb 15, 2022 8:33 am Kippers01 Pity the poor Metricon NSW operations staff forced to work in such a frustrating, disfunctional, under-resourced environment. No wonder staff turnover is so high. Perhaps Metricon HO in Melbourne could consider diverting some of their significant resources currently devoted to marketing, social media management, sales, accounts receivable, legal defense and football teams to actually delivering the promised reasonable quality product on time. Alternatively, Metricon NSW's salespeople could manage their prospective customers' expectations by clearly and honestly representing what product 'quality' is usually delivered and providing realistic project timing estimates, given Metricon's high volume & low cost business model. I think you have hit the nail on the head. What I forgot to add is that last time I checked I think they were doing around 4,700 dwellings per year, which is insane, so when you need changes to plans you going into the queue. But on your note about spending less money on marketing and social media, one of the things that really depressed my team when we were fighting to build quality and find trades and fulfil contracts was that they went and spent around $60m buying an italian soccer team. But I was meant to paint a 3 bedroom duplex for $2500. So that wasn't good for morale. Anyhow, as I said my info is 5 years old and they may have corrected some of these issues. And they do build a nice home for project home standards and I believe that they are a nice group of people who mean well. It's just that in my time NSW was a poor cousin to the mothership. PS. You should have seen the Melbourne christmas parties! No expense spared, we flew all out partners down to Melbourne and they were so incredibly lavish. Had a good time Architectural Homes & Duplexes - specialising in custom designing homes to your budget Get a Free Onsite Consultation Today or send a PM for information, questions or advice. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 32Feb 15, 2022 8:42 am Ashington Homes Kippers01 Pity the poor Metricon NSW operations staff forced to work in such a frustrating, disfunctional, under-resourced environment. No wonder staff turnover is so high. Perhaps Metricon HO in Melbourne could consider diverting some of their significant resources currently devoted to marketing, social media management, sales, accounts receivable, legal defense and football teams to actually delivering the promised reasonable quality product on time. Alternatively, Metricon NSW's salespeople could manage their prospective customers' expectations by clearly and honestly representing what product 'quality' is usually delivered and providing realistic project timing estimates, given Metricon's high volume & low cost business model. I think you have hit the nail on the head. What I forgot to add is that last time I checked I think they were doing around 4,700 dwellings per year, which is insane, so when you need changes to plans you going into the queue. But on your note about spending less money on marketing and social media, one of the things that really depressed my team when we were fighting to build quality and find trades and fulfil contracts was that they went and spent around $60m buying an italian soccer team. But I was meant to paint a 3 bedroom duplex for $2500. So that wasn't good for morale. Anyhow, as I said my info is 5 years old and they may have corrected some of these issues. And they do build a nice home for project home standards and I believe that they are a nice group of people who mean well. It's just that in my time NSW was a poor cousin to the mothership. PS. You should have seen the Melbourne christmas parties! No expense spared, we flew all out partners down to Melbourne and they were so incredibly lavish. Had a good time I appreciate that your history with them and your current position in the industry dictates what and how you say things about them. Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 33Feb 15, 2022 8:54 am Noname Ashington Homes Kippers01 Pity the poor Metricon NSW operations staff forced to work in such a frustrating, disfunctional, under-resourced environment. No wonder staff turnover is so high. Perhaps Metricon HO in Melbourne could consider diverting some of their significant resources currently devoted to marketing, social media management, sales, accounts receivable, legal defense and football teams to actually delivering the promised reasonable quality product on time. Alternatively, Metricon NSW's salespeople could manage their prospective customers' expectations by clearly and honestly representing what product 'quality' is usually delivered and providing realistic project timing estimates, given Metricon's high volume & low cost business model. I think you have hit the nail on the head. What I forgot to add is that last time I checked I think they were doing around 4,700 dwellings per year, which is insane, so when you need changes to plans you going into the queue. But on your note about spending less money on marketing and social media, one of the things that really depressed my team when we were fighting to build quality and find trades and fulfil contracts was that they went and spent around $60m buying an italian soccer team. But I was meant to paint a 3 bedroom duplex for $2500. So that wasn't good for morale. Anyhow, as I said my info is 5 years old and they may have corrected some of these issues. And they do build a nice home for project home standards and I believe that they are a nice group of people who mean well. It's just that in my time NSW was a poor cousin to the mothership. PS. You should have seen the Melbourne christmas parties! No expense spared, we flew all out partners down to Melbourne and they were so incredibly lavish. Had a good time I appreciate that your history with them and your current position in the industry dictates what and how you say things about them. thank you for understanding that I need to be measured Architectural Homes & Duplexes - specialising in custom designing homes to your budget Get a Free Onsite Consultation Today or send a PM for information, questions or advice. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 34Feb 18, 2022 1:16 pm Bvgary How can they even be compared anything can be compared. It doesn't mean the comparison will be favourable. Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 35Mar 15, 2022 8:59 am Interesting expose on ABC yesterday about Metricon NSW behaviors: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-14/ ... /100906402 Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 36Mar 15, 2022 9:14 am Kippers01 Interesting expose on ABC yesterday about Metricon NSW behaviors: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-14/ ... /100906402 their own expert agreed there were defects lol Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 37Mar 15, 2022 1:05 pm Kippers01 Interesting expose on ABC yesterday about Metricon NSW behaviors: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-14/ ... /100906402 Kippers When I started at Metricon I was faced with this exact problem of expansion joints being missed on a number of homes. The solution was pretty simple, we had to run some vertical saw cuts which the engineer signed off on. So not sure why this issue has gone this far, I could speculate but probably shouldn't Cheers Simeon Architectural Homes & Duplexes - specialising in custom designing homes to your budget Get a Free Onsite Consultation Today or send a PM for information, questions or advice. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 38Mar 15, 2022 2:00 pm Ashington Homes Kippers01 Interesting expose on ABC yesterday about Metricon NSW behaviors: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-14/ ... /100906402 Kippers When I started at Metricon I was faced with this exact problem of expansion joints being missed on a number of homes. The solution was pretty simple, we had to run some vertical saw cuts which the engineer signed off on. So not sure why this issue has gone this far, I could speculate but probably shouldn't Cheers Simeon Simeon, the solution is much easier and cheaper now. Photoshop! Saw begone! Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 39Mar 15, 2022 3:35 pm Noname Ashington Homes Kippers01 Interesting expose on ABC yesterday about Metricon NSW behaviors: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-14/ ... /100906402 Kippers When I started at Metricon I was faced with this exact problem of expansion joints being missed on a number of homes. The solution was pretty simple, we had to run some vertical saw cuts which the engineer signed off on. So not sure why this issue has gone this far, I could speculate but probably shouldn't Cheers Simeon Simeon, the solution is much easier and cheaper now. Photoshop! Saw begone! I laughed so hard! hillarious Architectural Homes & Duplexes - specialising in custom designing homes to your budget Get a Free Onsite Consultation Today or send a PM for information, questions or advice. Re: Metricon signature vs custom builder 40Mar 15, 2022 5:05 pm Nawkaw are pretty adept at photoshop too when Metricon NSW requests their masonry matching rectification 'services' following customer complaints. These cynically photoshopped Nawkaw photos are for NSWDFT and NCAT purposes, not customers! Metricon NSW knows all the 'tricks of the trade'. 3 22819 Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 21058 Hey guys, I have just purchased a block of land in Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. The block size is 630 Sq Mtrs (land settlement is due in 6 months). This is purely an… 0 24614 |